Allegations arise in election time
by
Leo Lynch
|
November 22, 2017 at 5:00 a.m.

Donna Brazile's new tell-all book about the circumstances surrounding the Democratic Party and the Hillary Clinton campaign may bring some much needed focus on politics. Hopefully the focus will be on all levels of "party politics" and focus not only on the DNC but the primary factors that breed the problems -- money and power. If the statement is true that "it takes money to make money," it is doubly true in the world of politics. Even though I have not read Ms. Brazile's book, I would offer it as Exhibit 1, in demonstrating the effect of money on the inside workings of a political party and the effect of outside sources on policy and candidate selection.

As we try to learn more about what actually happened to the DNC (and we could probably learn a lot about the inner workings of both political parties if more details of her book were publicized) we see the television news media switch the focus to accusations against Judge Roy Moore of Alabama. Suddenly, after years of life out of the limelight, a number of women have come forth to accuse him of "sexual impropriety." Details on the situations are scarce or not mentioned in public, I guess, since all I have seen is a lady and her lawyer waiting to be interviewed through tears. Apparently there is a problem with the age of Judge Moore at that time and the age of the girls making the accusations.

In no way am I defending Judge Moore, but the timing of all of this seems to highlight the fact that he is running for a United States Senate seat vacated by current Attorney General Sessions. It should be noted that Judge Moore is a conservative Republican and gained national attention over his efforts to install a monument of the Ten Commandments in the rotunda of the Alabama Judicial Building while he was Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. His decision cost him his position on the Supreme Court but he was re-elected and then suspended for upholding the sanctity of marriage as being between one man and one woman. Question number one, would this information and the accusations have come out if he were not seeking the Senate seat; and, number two, is he really guilty as charged? With very little knowledge of the circumstances on my part, I can see why some groups might fear having him in the U.S. Senate. The voters of Alabama will have to make a decision when they go to the polls. Hopefully much of the gray area will have been resolved before the 12th of December when the election is held. Otherwise accusations alone my cost him the election.

Had a new issue not forced Ms. Brazile's book from the front pages it may have given Americans more insight into the political party system than those in the higher ranks of the parties (and the Washington insiders) wanted us to know. When we talk about our national budget, we talk in trillions of dollars. That is a lot of money even to a common laborer -- voter like you and me. The National Football League commissioners may fathom those numbers but not many of mainstream America realize that it takes one thousand billion dollars to equal a trillion (in the American currency system) and in Washington they throw around one million dollars like you or I might think of $10.

Those numbers are enough to make people squeamish over which party controls the White House, the Senate and House of Representatives. Donna Brazile's book might cause you and me to focus too much attention on Washington. Besides, the media has a Hollywood film producer to establish a precedence for discussing sexual transgressions. And, there will probably be a lot of interest in the revelation of sexual improprieties in the lives of the rich and famous as revealed in living color on the television screen. Perhaps much more entertaining to most people than actually taking time to read a book.

What we do about the allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior, I do not know. I wish Jesus were here to deal with the situation. He would probably have to ask "who is going to cast the first stone?" I just wonder about being deemed guilty by accusation.

That doesn't seem to be consistent with our judicial process.

Donna Brazile's book might have to replace writing for a while -- if I can find a second hand copy. I wonder if she explains how we can work to overthrow the government of a foreign nation and yet accuse Russia of "interfering" in our recent presidential election ?

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Editor's note: Leo Lynch, an award-winning columnist, is a native of Benton County and has deep roots in northwest Arkansas. The opinions expressed are those of the author. He is a retired industrial engineer and former Justice of the Peace.